1979 U.S. Women's Open: Jerilyn Britz wins at Brooklawn Country Club
Jerilyn Britz won the 1979 U.S. Women's Open at Brooklawn Country Club, Fairfield, Connecticut, United States with 284 (E), by 2 strokes over Debbie Massey and Sandra Palmer.
Updated October 23, 2026
Every year is on the U.S. Women's Open winners list.
- Dates
- July 12, 1979 to July 15, 1979
- Course
- Brooklawn Country Club, Fairfield, Connecticut, United States
- Edition
- 34th edition
- Counted as a major
- yes
- Format
- stroke play, 4 rounds
- Par
- 71 · 6,010 yards
- Entries
- 335
- Field
- 153
- Made the cut
- 56 (cut at 152)
- Purse
- $125,000 · winner's share $19,000
- Champion
- Jerilyn Britz · age 36 · United States · born Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
- Champion's title
- 1st title at this event · 1st major
- Winning score
- 70-70-75-69 = 284 (E) · won by 2 strokes
- Runners-up
- Debbie Massey, Sandra Palmer (286 each)
- 54-hole leader
- Debbie Massey · Jerilyn Britz was 3 strokes back
- Low amateur
- Terri Moody (297)
- Run by
- United States Golf Association
Winner and runners-up
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jerilyn Britz | 70 | 70 | 75 | 69 | 284 | E |
| T2 | Debbie Massey | 70 | 72 | 70 | 74 | 286 | +2 |
| T2 | Sandra Palmer | 73 | 69 | 74 | 70 | 286 | +2 |
What happened at the 1979 U.S. Women's Open
Jerilyn Britz, three strokes behind Debbie Massey after 54 holes, played the front nine in 35 to Massey's 41.
Massey birdied the 15th, 16th and 17th to tie but double-bogeyed the 18th, giving Britz her first LPGA victory by two strokes.
How this was built
Every value is shown as recorded in GNN's U.S. Women's Open data. A value no source confirmed is left out; nothing is estimated. Where sources disagree, the organizer's own record is used.
Data: womens-golf-majors_dataset_2026-10-20.json (GNN's women's majors research set, "master" row for this year, research dated October 20, 2026).
Also from GNN's U.S. Women's Open set (entries, runners-up round by round, values the majors set does not hold).
Sources
- usga.org: 26USWomensOpen
- Wikipedia: 1979 U.S. Women's Open
- Wikipedia: U.S. Women's Open
- Wikipedia: Jerilyn Britz
- golfcompendium.com: 1979 us womens open
- forethegoodofthegame.com: jerilyn britz part 2 the 1979 womens us open
- golfcompendium.com: jerilyn britz golfer
- pressreader.com: stamford advocate
- si.com: cool hand jerilyn takes a hot open jerilyn britz…